Shein/Temu tat-tax

[SheinIsShite]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c078j4kylz3o

Missed this in the budget yesterday with all the coverage of the changes to child caps and electric cars. But AIBU to think this is about time too? In fact, I'd argue it doesn't go far enough.

France is imposing a levy of 10 euros (capped at 50% of retail value) on these "fast fashion" items along with incentives to encourage buying second hand and repairing clothing. They are also banning advertising of these companies, and banning influencers from promoting their "Shein hauls" and similar.

https://esgnews.com/france-targets-ultra-fast-fashion-with-eco-tax-ad-ban-and-transparency-rules/

So it's a start.

Shopping in charity shops is time consuming you cant always get your size your colour etc people who work cant take half a day or two to source appropriate clothing

This is all covered in my follow up post.

So stop buying clothes. Everyone has plenty. You can get bags full for free on FB.

‘Shein is cheaper than charity shops. It's also cheaper in both time and money than repairing your own clothes.‘

How is it cheaper in money? Needles and thread cost very little.

Me too, you have to look at the tags that tell you what it's made of. Some of my favourite items are Shein clothes. One dress I've had 4 years, worn weekly through the summer and spring and still looks perfect. I get compliments on it often. It's just a cotton/polyester mix, much the same as you get in Asda. Cost me 7.99. If you actually check what you're buying, you can get nice stuff on there.

They find another job, just like I'd have to if I lost mine?

The idea that SheIn is cheaper than all second hand offerings isn't true.

I buy almost entirely second hand, a habit I picked up when I was on an extremely low income. I never stopped, because it's a formula that still works. A sweater made 15 years ago will be made with nicer materials and better finishing than a modern high-end item, and can still be found for around a fiver.

That (nauseatingly twee) Pratchett quote about boots was written at a time when more expensive clothes could be counted on to be higher quality. Now even high end designer stuff is made of plastic.

I don't think that SheIn/Temu customer demographics support the idea that "it's there for poor people". For most customers, it's a bit of fancy-dress fun. When I was young and struggling with money, SheIn still would not have appealed to me - what's appealing about ordering things that take weeks to arrive, are likely not to fit (or look anything like the photo), are a hassle to return for a refund, and risk making me look even more hard-up than I actually am?

Middle Aged Women are Shein’s Average Customers, So Should We Stop Blaming Gen Z for the Fast Fashion Brands Success?

I’m fed up of that fucking Vimes boot story.

Whenever I see a thread about budget goods I make a little bet with myself to see how early it turns up. First page this time! I owe myself a mars bar.

You think temu and Shien are ethical employers when "you" are buying a £7 skirt or Whatever.

That's what the internet is for. I never set foot in a charity shop. I just put my search criteria in on ebay and up pops an array of dozens, if not hundreds of things I could choose from. Most of them are buy now, so I don't even have to faff around bidding.

I am not sure there's much difference with the £10 skirt you can buy in Next, or new look, or H&M... in term of product or ethic

Fair point but I still don't think buying shit from shien is the way forward in making sure that people are properly employed.

I don't for a second believe, that people are using Temu/Shein for essential clothing. They're using it for wanted clothing. People don't need anywhere near the amount of clothes they own (myself included!), they want them. If Temu was literally the only way to afford the bare basic necessities, I could sympathize, but it's not.

define "essential" - technically 2 pairs of trousers, 2 tops (wash one, wear one) are essential. Everything else is luxury, including nightwear.

So clothes you "need" is an interesting concept

On average, people own 5 times more clothes than they did 50 years ago. That is not necessity. And if you are on your uppers it has never been easier to get clothes for free. People are gagging to get rid of them by the sackful.

But the things people need are not definitely on shrink/Temu either; and if they are, they're certainly NOT good quality.
And bloody hell Klarna does nothing to help people struggling: they could end up with huge fees. And more than likely they will, as they add more and more to be paid "later" - when they have no more money than they do now. And now they have a huge debt.
This is not preferable to the "stigma" of own 2nd hand clothes and other items.

It's just so twee. All "oh but think about the POOR people, they can't afford better and are forced into buying shite from Shein, they should be pitied not criticised".

Which is a load of bollocks because most people who are shopping at Shein and Temu are not buying a single pair of boots which they wear until the boots literally fall to bits and then buy another pair to replace them. The average Shein customer is spending $100 a month (which is what, £80?) on bags and bags of "cute bits" and new outfits for every occasion.

https://www.businessinsider.com/shein-average-shopper-spends-100-month-womens-clothing-2023-6

Agreed.

There's also a very unpleasant implication that poorer people are too stupid and unresourceful to mend clothes or work out how to source quality second hand items. Wasn't the case for me when I was hard up, I managed not to wear plastic rags or go nude.

But it's never actually about poor people, they're just a deliberate red herring. It's about relatively comfortable people tying themselves in knots to justify their polyester dress-up fun when, in reality, they know it's indefensible.

"But stuff from H&M is not much better quality nowadays!". I know. I won't touch that stuff either.

I’ve recently read Patrick Grants book Less and he goes into this in a lot of detail. It’s revolutionizing how I think about things. I highly recommend it.

I think they should introduce this tax tomorrow - the quicker the better.

You are just brushing aside perfectly valid points of why people might use Shein or Temu because you are getting carried away with your righteousness.
Listen to what posters are saying. It will be more effective to campaign against these shops if you can come up with proper counter arguments, not just expect people to fall in line with your privileged view.
Still, I'm sure the people who have to use Klarna have never thought it would be better to not use credit, so I am glad you have explained that to them 🙄
I've never used either website by the way, so I have no skin in the game, but the privilege and tone deaf posts are starting to really annoy me.

These people didn’t suddenly materialise out of nowhere to start making Temu Tat. They will probably find work in similar factories, or do whatever they were doing before.

overproducing crap in other parts of the world cannot be legitimised because it creates jobs.

😂😂😂 I'm definitely not privileged. My income is low and I struggle to get through each month. It still doesn't force me to use those sites though. I spend very little on clothing and footwear. My stuff has to last years.

Buy from Vinted. Charity shops are over priced whereas with Vinted I can get a ten pound bundle and it’s filled with quality clothes.

Good. Shein & temu are crap!